James Lipton is more gracious onstage than he was in an audience this week. During one of many packed movie premieres at the Ziegfeld, we saw the “Inside the Actors Studio” host and his guest put their coats over the seats in front of them and then tell all who dared to sit, “Those are taken!”

As the lights dimmed, Lipton barked at a man who tried to sit down, and an entire row ended up shifting over for him to find a seat. When two more late guests arrived, Lipton and his date told them they were holding the seats for others, sniffing, “People are sitting there.”

With the movie starting, the pair sat in them anyway. An angry Lipton huffed to his guest, “Can you still see?”

The mystery guests for whom he was holding the seats never seemed to materialize.